Wrestling

NCAA releases wrestling award standings update

INDIANAPOLIS -- The NCAA has released the updated standings for the 2016 NCAA Wrestling Awards that will be awarded in March at the respective Division I, II and III Wrestling Championships.

The inaugural NCAA Wrestling Awards were presented at the 2012 wrestling championships. The three awards, given in each division, honor the Most Dominant Wrestler as well as the student-athletes that have accumulated the most falls and the most technical falls throughout the course of the regular and postseasons.

For falls and tech falls to be counted towards a student-athletes total they must come against opponents in the same division. Ties in the two categories are broken based on the aggregate time.

In the Division I Most Dominant Wrestler standings, Penn State freshman Jason Nolf leads with an average of 5.13 points per match at 157 pounds, which is .04 ahead of 149-pound teammate Zain Retherford. Heavyweight Joe Stolfi of Bucknell is also in the running for the award with an average of 5.06 points per match.

Pittsburgh-Johnstown 184-pounder Travis McKillop leads Division II with an average of 5.33 points, which is well ahead of Romero Cotton of Nebraska-Kearney with 4.94 points.

The 2014-15 NCAA Division III Most Dominant Wrestler is well on his way to earning the award for the second year in a row as Wabash 184-pounder Riley Lefever has an average of 5.74 points. Heavyweight Donald Longendyke is second with an average of 5.48 points for Augsburg.

The Most Dominant Wrestler standings are calculated by adding the total number of points awarded through match results and dividing that number by the total number of matches wrestled. Points per match are awarded as follows and based on a minimum of 16 matches in the division.

Navy 197-pounder Michael Woulfe leads Division I with 14 falls this season, while teammate Mathew Miller is second with 12 at 184 pounds.

Ronald Wardleigh of Western State is the leader in Division II with 13 falls at 125 pounds, followed closely by McKillop with 12.

Three wrestlers have compiled an impressive 18 falls in Division III this season. AJ Kowal of Stevens Institute of Technology holds the national lead by aggregate time (38:43) over Lefever (49:57) and Josh Thomson of Messiah (54:56) by more than 11 minutes.

Isaiah Martinez of Illinois has surpassed his winning total from last season with 12 tech falls this season at 157 pounds to hold the Division I lead.

Francis Mizia of Mercyhurst maintains his lead in Division II with eight tech falls at 165 pounds, while Maryville (Missouri) 197-pounder Ryan Beltz and Seton Hill 141-pounder Joseph Alessandro each have seven.

Division III also has a three-way tie in the tech fall standings. Michael Fleck, a 125-pounder from Wilkes, holds the national lead by aggregate time (48:09) over Springfield 149-pounder Zach Joseph (58:02) and Messiah 125-pounder Lucas Malmberg (65:13), as each has earned 11 tech falls this season.